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Compensation benchmarking data · November 2026 Edition

Pave vs Mercer Total Remuneration Survey

Three of fourteen models named Pave first on the direct prompt; zero named Mercer Total Remuneration Survey. Both were named by all fourteen models and Pave carries 36 labels and Mercer Total Remuneration Survey 34, so the shares are not directly comparable.

Pave

accepted challenger

Named in five categories this edition.

Named in one category this edition.

First-choice share15%4%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate0%50%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#2#6A position in a field of 9; printed, not drawn.
Labels3634A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Pave reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Payscale was named alongside these two in eleven of the fourteen direct answers. Payscale vs Pave · Payscale vs Mercer Total Remuneration Survey · Pave vs Comprehensive.io

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the compensation benchmarking data page.

By framing

How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
PaveFirst choices, of fourteen modelsMercer Total Remuneration Survey
Direct306 against Mercer Total Remuneration Survey
Paraphrase024 against Mercer Total Remuneration Survey
Comparative13
Budget-constrained402 against Mercer Total Remuneration Survey
Scale-constrained102 against Mercer Total Remuneration Survey
Negative003 against Mercer Total Remuneration Survey
Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.

Across every category in the November 2026 Edition, Pave and Mercer Total Remuneration Survey were named in the same answer forty-two times, of the 220 answers naming Pave and the 92 naming Mercer Total Remuneration Survey. In those answers Mercer Total Remuneration Survey took the first choice seven times and Pave nine.

Every model, every framing

The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Pave and Mercer Total Remuneration Survey stood in it.
ModelDirectParaphraseComparativeBudget-constrainedScale-constrainedNegative
Claude Haiku 4.5
GPT-5.4 mini
Gemini 3.5 Flash
Perplexity Sonar
Grok 4.20
Mistral Small
DeepSeek V4 Flash
Llama 4 Maverick
Qwen 3.7 Flash
Kimi K2
GLM 4.7 FlashX
MiniMax M2.5
GPT-6 Luna
Muse Glimmer 30B
Pave Mercer Total Remuneration Survey first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Pave on the left and Mercer Total Remuneration Survey on the right.

The direct prompt

The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Pave and Mercer Total Remuneration Survey stood in it.

Pave first, Mercer Total Remuneration Survey an alternative

3 of 14 modelsMercer Total Remuneration Survey was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.
Claude Haiku 4.5Pave, SalaryCube alternatives: CompUp, OpenComp, Payscale Ascent
Gemini 3.5 FlashPave alternatives: Carta Total Compensation, Payscale, Salary.com CompAnalyst
Mistral SmallPave alternatives: Mercer Total Remuneration Survey, Payscale

Neither was the first choice, one was named

11 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.
GPT-5.4 miniSalary.com CompAnalyst alternatives: Compensation-IQ, Pave, Payscale Ascent
Perplexity SonarPayscale alternatives: Pave, Ravio, SalaryCube
Grok 4.20Payscale alternatives: Pave, Ravio, Salary.com CompAnalyst
DeepSeek V4 FlashPayscale alternatives: Mercer Benchmark Database, Pave, Ravio, SalaryCube
Llama 4 MaverickSalaryCube alternatives: Mercer Total Remuneration Survey, Pave, Payscale
Qwen 3.7 FlashComprehensive.io alternatives: Figures, Pave, Payscale, Salary.com CompAnalyst
Kimi K2Payscale alternatives: Mercer Total Remuneration Survey, Pave, Radford, Salary.com CompAnalyst
GLM 4.7 FlashXFigures, SalaryCube Comp Planning alternatives: Pave, Salary.com CompAnalyst
MiniMax M2.5CompAnalyst, Payscale alternatives: Pave
GPT-6 LunaPayscale alternatives: Pave
Muse Glimmer 30BPayscale alternatives: CompAnalyst, Comprehensive.io, Pave, Salary.com CompAnalyst, SalaryCube

Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.

By buyer segment

The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
Pave leads by nineteen points.
Pave19%#1 of 10
Mercer Total Remuneration Survey0%#9 of 10
The full small business standing →
Mid-marketThe figures above
Pave leads by eleven points.
Pave15%#2 of 9
Mercer Total Remuneration Survey4%#6 of 9
The full mid-market standing →
Enterprise
The order flips: Mercer Total Remuneration Survey leads at enterprise.
Mercer Total Remuneration Survey33%#1 of 9
Pave3%#7 of 9
The full enterprise standing →

What the models said about Pave

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. One of one in this category shown.

“Pave's free Market Data Lite tier and Comprehensive's free salary data both give small teams real numbers at no cost” Claude Haiku 4.5 · budget prompt · first choice

What the models said about Mercer Total Remuneration Survey

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.

“Providers to avoid or use carefully include: - Mercer, Willis Towers Watson (WTW), and Radford when the budget is tight” Muse Glimmer 30B · negative prompt · hard negative
“avoid traditional enterprise survey providers (like Radford/Aon, Mercer, or Willis Towers Watson” Gemini 3.5 Flash · budget prompt · hard negative
“Avoid for Mid-Market: Radford (Aon), Mercer, or Willis Towers Watson” Grok 4.20 · direct prompt · hard negative
“One of the most comprehensive and widely used surveys globally... Best for: Mid-sized companies seeking robust, benchmarked data” MiniMax M2.5 · paraphrase prompt · first choice
“Choose Mercer, WTW, Aon/Radford, or Korn Ferry for global compensation structures and job architecture.” Perplexity Sonar · comparative prompt · first choice
“If you need to set salary bands globally, choose Mercer for breadth.” Qwen 3.7 Flash · comparative prompt · first choice
Also compared

Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.